If he wants it, there's a career in politics waiting for Sam Warburton when he retires.

In press conferences he's engaging, personable and knows exactly how to handle controversy by saying the right things at the right time.

But he's not only a safe pair of hands off the field, his rapport with referees on the field is also well-documented, knowing when to say certain things to referees and knowing when to keep it to himself.

And that came to the fore once again in Auckland.

After Owen Farrell had levelled for the Lions late on, the hosts were about to be pinged by referee Romain Poite for offside when Ken Owens handled a ball that Liam Williams had knocked on.

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“It’s a shot to nothing at that point.," said the Lions skipper, "I just asked him to check for the accidental offside. They order a penalty and it’s worth asking the question.

"The whole game he was pretty receptive at having a look at things which he might not have caught at first sight. A lot of referees in the past they make a call and they stick to it. This series they’ve been really good at having a look.

“If you question something 10-15 times a game they won’t acknowledge what you’re saying but I think less is more in those situations. Luckily he listened to the question and had a check again.

“When you think back to the World Cup when that happened with Scotland and Australia and they kicked the penalty. The Scots were angry with that and I remember thinking there’s got to be an alternative because it’s not a penalty offence in my opinion.

“I’m glad it was a scrum instead.”

Lucky indeed. A penalty, that Poite looked ready to award, would have resulted in a very kickable penalty to win the game for Beauden Barrett, though he had looked suspect from the tee all night.

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“They used the video and had a pow-wow. The ref’s initial instincts were that it was a penalty, then he spoke to his team of three and one suggested it was accidental. It is what is is," said All Blacks boss Steve Hansen.

“People that are running the game need to decide if it should be made more simple. My view would be yes it should be. Tomorrow would be good."

New Zealand captain Kieran Read added: "My view is that it's a penalty. He ruled it correctly from the start but I guess when you bring in replays and everything you get different decision. That wasn't the reason we lost the game."